Despite the fact that I still have such an excessive number of places to write about from this summer’s trip, I have also neglected to share stories from a ton of places I visited last summer. I was scrolling through my old Instagram posts yesterday, as I like to do to reminisce, and came upon my pictures […]

I seriously can’t believe I’ve been travelling for over a month now. It feels totally normal to pack up and move every few days (or every day), almost like I’ve been doing this forever – but then I get those moments where I realize how incredible this experience is and I’m just in awe of […]

So many travels start with Europe. The continent has everything, despite its small size – the sheer number of countries allows for stunning diversity and vibrance. Many travellers (myself included for the time being) stick to the big names: London, Paris, Istanbul, Rome. I can’t wait until I’m established in Italy and I can explore […]

Ah, Spain. Before I visited, my vision of the country was flamenco dancers, loud and beautiful people, and a language I was desperate to learn. That was pretty much it. I had no idea how diverse Spain was, from the Basque Country to Catalonia to Andalucia. I went with a very small bucket list (Seville […]

I love beaches, I love cheap wine, I love fun hostels and I love unspoiled nature. Despite only having two days in Lagos, Portugal, I got all of these things and more. Portugal itself was a total surprise to me: I went on a total whim with Erika, a girl I barely knew from school, […]

Our pre-planned itinerary for our three nights in Budapest was uncharacteristically sparse; we waited until we arrived and borrowed guidebooks to plan out our sightseeing route. The one thing we planned in advance, however, was a river cruise: how could we miss such a highlight in the city dramatically set on the Danube? We booked […]

Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve had the pleasure of exploring. That Parliament building is stunning enough on its own, but when you get to see a panorama of the city’s unique mixture of different architectures it’s just breathtaking. As I tend to do in Europe, (see my guide to towers in […]

Neither I or my sister had ever been to a Muslim country before. We had never seen a mosque, and didn’t really feel like we knew very much about Islam at all. Istanbul was our introduction to this world, and we were instantly hooked. The mosques we visited were insanely beautiful, the people were so […]

I visited a lot of cities and a lot of countries this summer, but Istanbul is one that stands out the most. At least once a week, my sister and I text each other something to the tune of “ugh can we go back to Istanbul plz”. I think part of our love for the […]

The Turkish woman gestured for me to remove my bikini top, something I thought I had gotten away with wearing. I shouldn’t have felt weird about semi-nudity at this point, considering the other women of all shapes and sizes scattered around the room were mostly totally naked, but my North American upbringing shone through and […]